Might have gone down the wrong route

[SrPhantom]

Hi all,

I recently build a new machine, after being away on a Mac for many years.

Now I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't have gone X99 instead of Z170, with the current HW I'm filling up my PCI-E lanes and have no room to expand.
Also, getting the memory to work on the motherboard was a nightmare, I have it +/- stable now but cold booting is not always guaranteed.

To start off, this is my current config

6700K @ 4.4Ghz
Asus Maximus VIII Hero Alpha
32GB Corsair PC3200 @ 3000Mhz CL15
Asus Strix 1080 OC
Intel 750 NVME 400GB
Samsung 850 500GB
WD Black 2TB
EVGA 750WG1
Corsair 540 Air + 5 x 140mm Corsair PRO White
Corsair 115i cooling
Asus PQ345 Swift 34" Widescreen
Corsair K40 RGB
Corsair K65 RGB

This leaves me little room for expansion such as a dedicated sound card, another GTX1080 or a second NVME.

So I was wondering if I shouldn't replace the MB and CPU with the X99 equivalents and keep the 6700K for a secondary machine or test bench.
Would this give me more room for expansion and also eliminate the compatibility issues between the MB and the RAM?

Oh, main use is Gaming, Lightroom and Photoshop. Next to PC's I do a lot of photography with a Full frame Nikon D810.

Cheers

 

[tinytomlogan]

If you need another NVMe Id just get a bigger one.

NVMe for storage is a bit OTT tbh and it should really be used as an OS drive.

My advice would be either get a bigger NVMe or just get a 2TB normal SSD

 

[SrPhantom]

Thank Tom,

I agree it would be OTT, and I should have gone with the 1.2TB instead, but I like it OTT

All seriousness, It's all about option, I don't like to feel limited, hence the question.

 

[MadShadow]

Well if you want more options, you've really answered you own question, go X99.

 

[tinytomlogan]

You didnt say if your 750 was pcie or U.2?

 

[SrPhantom]

It is a PCIE